WHERE MEXICO COOKS: A SMALL-TOWN CULINARY VACATION IN TEPOZTLÁN
7 Nights / 8 Days · La Villa Bonita, Tepoztlán – Jan 31 – Feb 7, 2027
Tepoztlán is one of those places that makes you slow down — a mountain town where markets still matter, your ingredients have names, and food is woven into daily life. This week is designed to help you experience Mexico the way it’s meant to be experienced: through the people who grow it, make it, and cook it.
You’ll stay at La Villa Bonita, Chef Ana García’s home and a purpose-built culinary retreat created specifically for hands-on cooking. From the open-air kitchen overlooking the Tepozteco mountains to shared meals and conversations that stretch long past dessert, this is not a hotel experience — it’s a week where you’re welcomed into the rhythm of a Mexican home and made to feel part of the family.
Trip Highlights
- ✓ Hands-on Mexican cooking in an open-air kitchen
- ✓ Traditional techniques and regional dishes
- ✓ Daily breakfasts from Mari’s kitchen
- ✓ Market visits and local ingredients
- ✓ Cultural excursion through rural Morelos
- ✓ Comfort food and family-style meals
- ✓ Modern Mexican cooking techniques
- ✓ Agua frescas and playful Mexican cocktails
- ✓ Free day to explore or relax
- ✓ Small-group, relaxed pace
IMPORTANT! This schedule provides a general outline of a typical 7-night culinary vacation; every week is different. We may adjust dishes or excursions to take advantage of seasonal ingredients or guest interests — always to enhance your experience.
Day 1 – Arrival & Welcome Under the Stars (Sunday)
Guests arrive at Benito Juárez International Airport (MEX), where airport pickup is provided (Ask about schedule to meet out Shuttle). The drive to Tepoztlán takes approximately 1½ hours. Upon arrival at La Villa Bonita, enjoy relaxed welcome snacks — guacamole, cheeses, homemade salsas, and chips — and take in your first mountain sunset.
Later that afternoon/evening guests will enjoy Chef Ana and Chef Ale’s 4-course chef’s table gourmet dinner made from primarily local ingredients grown in the garden or from local providers. Dinner is served within our ample open-air kitchen with a view of the valley below or above our kitchen in the elevated dining area with a 360-degree view of the mountains. Chef Ana will explain her dishes to the guests and also discuss how the week will unfold.
Arrival Snack Beverage
Agua fresca: Guayaba con limón (guava with lime)
Cocktail: Chef Ana’s calamondín margarita
Day 2 – Cooking with the Pit (Monday)
Today (and every day) you will enjoy one of La Villa Bonita’s true gems – Mari’s breakfast starting with fresh biscuits, homemade jams and granola, yogurt, the freshest fruits of the moment, fresh-squeezed juice AND a new hot main dish every day like huevos rancheros, huevos a la mexicana, longaniza, sopes, fresh tortillas! Barista and jack of all trades, Emanuel will serve you an incredible cappuccino made with Mexican beans.
Today after breakfast guests will go to the market to select ingredients and meet providers. Then we begin the week by going back to one of Mexico’s oldest ways of cooking — slow, patient, and deeply rooted in tradition in our pit. Today’s dishes are built around techniques that rely on time, steam, and gentle heat rather than speed. Cooking this way teaches you how Mexican cooks build deep flavor using simple ingredients and thoughtful seasoning. This is food that feels both humble and celebratory, and it forms the foundation of so much everyday Mexican cooking.
Menu
- Mixiotes de Pollo con Nopales y Zanahoria (Chicken steamed in maguey leaves with cactus and carrots)
- Arroz a la Mexicana (Mexican-style tomato rice)
- Ensalada de Lenteja y Plátano Macho (Lentil and ripe plantain salad)
- Tortillas Hechas a Mano (Handmade corn tortillas)
- Jericallas o Tres Leches de Chocolate (Traditional custard or chocolate tres leches cake)
Cocktail of the Day
Mezcalita de Piña (Pineapple Mezcalrita)
Agua Fresca
Agua de Limón con Chía
After lunch, afternoons and evenings are relaxed. Many guests enjoy lingering in the open-air kitchen with a cocktail, taking a dip in the pool, reading in the orchard, or strolling into town for ice cream or coffee. This is your home for the week — settle in and enjoy it.
Day 3 – Modern Mexican Cooking (Tuesday)
Today has an optional yoga session ($15 USD) and you can join or hang back and enjoy the morning. Breakfast will be late today but you can have coffee, fruit and yogurt before having our “main” breakfast at about 11:30. As the evening air cools, Mexican kitchens naturally turn to comforting dishes meant to be shared. Today’s menu brings together warmth, spice, and deeply familiar flavors — perfect for cooking and eating outdoors. Cooking today will start at 12:30.
Mexican food is deeply traditional, but it’s also constantly evolving. Today’s class explores how classic flavors can be reinterpreted in a more modern way without losing their soul. These dishes balance richness with brightness and show how Mexican cooks adapt old ideas to new kitchens. You’ll learn how sauces, textures, and techniques come together in a way that feels current — but still unmistakably Mexican.
Menu
- Sopa Fría de Aguacate con Crutones de Tortilla (Chilled avocado soup with tortilla croutons)
- Carnitas de Pato (Slow-cooked duck carnitas)
- Salsa de Tamarindo y Chipotle (Tamarind–chipotle sauce)
- Tortillas de Harina (Flour tortillas)
- Ensalada de Betabel con Queso de Cabra (Roasted beet salad with goat cheese)
- Pay de Mamey (Mamey fruit tart)
Cocktail of the Day
Margarita de Jamaica Ahumada con Romero (Smoked Jamaica Hibiscus Flower Margarita with Romero)
Agua Fresca
Agua de Sandía Natural
Evenings are easy and unstructured. Guests often gather in the kitchen for cocktails and conversation, enjoy a swim under the stars, play board games like 5 Crowns or Mexican Train, or wander into town to soak up the evening energy of Tepoztlán.
Day 4 – Chayo, Chalcatzingo, Cecina & Greenhouses (Wednesday)
Today after our fabulous breakfast, we step out of the kitchen to explore how food, traditions, history, and landscape come together in this region of Morelos. We begin with a visit to Chef Ana’s personal flatware and pottery makers who produces everything in traditional Morelos way. She will give a demonstration of how she makes her pottery and there will be opportunities to purchase her wares. Then we are off to the ancient archaeological site of Chalcatzingo, one of the earliest known settlements in central Mexico. Walking among these Olmec rock carvings and terraces offers a powerful sense of how long people have lived, farmed, and cooked in this valley. From there, we stop for a traditional lunch featuring cecina — the thin-cut, lightly salted beef that Morelos is famous for — served with fresh salsas, beans, and handmade tortillas. In the afternoon, we visit a local greenhouse to learn about regional growing practices and seasonal ingredients that appear throughout the week in our cooking.
After returning to La Villa Bonita, the evening is intentionally free. Guests may relax at the house, enjoy a casual dinner on their own, share a drink in the kitchen, or head into town. We’re always happy to offer suggestions or help arrange a taxi.
Day 5 – Mexican Comfort Food (Thursday)
After breakfast and option yoga, guests will go to the tortilla mill to grind masa for tortillas made from local corn grown by Mari! Today is all about comfort — the food people cook when they want to feel at home. Soup technique is crucial. These are the dishes that appear at family tables, school lunches, and quiet weekday meals. They may look simple, but they rely on balance, timing, and seasoning to be truly good. Chef Ana often says this is the hardest food to cook well, because it has to taste like a memory.
Menu
- Sopa de Letras (Alphabet pasta soup)
- Albóndigas de Res con Chipotle (Beef meatballs in chipotle tomato sauce)
- Arroz Blanco con Crema y Elote (White rice with cream and corn)
- Ensalada de Ejote y Aguacate (Green bean and avocado salad)
- Frijoles Refritos (Refried beans)
- Gelatina de Jerez y Rompope (Sherry and eggnog-style gelatin)
Cocktail of the Day
Paloma Casera
Agua Fresca
Agua de Jamaica Suave
Evening options include relaxing in the orchard, enjoying cocktails with friends in the kitchen, taking a quiet walk into town, or simply enjoying the mountain air back at the house.
Day 6 – Mexican Brunch & Farewell Cooking (Friday)
We finish the week cooking a celebratory brunch with Chef Ale — the kind of meal Mexicans love to share when there’s time to linger and enjoy each other’s company. Today’s cooking is social and flexible, designed to bring everyone together in the kitchen on focus on fabulous breakfast dishes. These dishes are festive without being complicated and are meant to be cooked, served, and enjoyed at an easy pace — a joyful way to wrap up the week.
Menu
- Trenza de Pollo con Picadillo (Braided bread filled with chicken picadillo)
- Trenza de Hongos con Requesón al Chipotle (Braided bread with mushrooms and chipotle-seasoned fresh cheese)
- Ensalada Verde con Gelatina de Zanahoria y Piña (Green salad with carrot–pineapple gelatin)
- Plátanos Flameados con Tequila y Helado (Flambéed bananas with tequila and ice cream)
Cocktail of the Day
Mimosa de Naranja y Mandarina
Agua Fresca
Agua de Piña con Hierbabuena
In the evening, guests who wish may take a taxi to La Taberna del Telón for live tropical music and dancing — an optional independent activity that we’re happy to help arrange. Others may choose to enjoy a quieter night at the house, sharing a final drink and conversation in the kitchen.
Maybe take a hike up the Tepozteco to see the incredible view form above!
Day 7 – Free Day (Saturday)
A full day to explore, rest, hike, shop, or simply enjoy La Villa Bonita. Activities today are not included, but we are happy to help you plan.
Your final evening is yours — perhaps a stroll into town, time at the pool, or one last gathering in the open-air kitchen.
Day 8 – Departure (Sunday)
Today we say goodbye but we will look back on all of the fun we had with you during this week and plan for our next adventure. After breakfast, guest will make their way to the airport MEX on our shuttle (please see shuttle hours).
Book Now!WHAT’S INCLUDED
- 7 nights lodging at La Villa Bonita — all rooms with en suite bathroom and shower
- Roundtrip airport transfers (shuttle schedule applies)
- All cooking classes with Chef Ana García and Chef Alejandra Quiroz
- Full breakfast every day, featuring a different hot dish from Mari’s kitchen
- Lunch on all cooking days and all meals listed in the itinerary
- Alcoholic beverages during cooking classes and self-serve afterwards in the kitchen
- All excursions listed in the itinerary
- Personalized PDF recipe manual after your stay
- Use of robes, hair dryer, and locally made toiletries
- Fiber-optic Wi-Fi
- Daily maid service; laundry upon request
- Full access to the open-air kitchen for snacks, leftovers, and drinks — ¡Estás en tu casa!
NOT INCLUDED
- Airfare
- Airport transfers outside the shuttle window (private car available for a fee)
- Personal shopping, dining out, or activities not listed in the itinerary
- Costs of optional Saturday (Thursday for 5-night) and optional evening activities
- Optional yoga sessions
- Gratuities
PRICE
7-Night Package — 4 Cooking Days
$1,999 USD + 16% tax per person (double)
$2,499 USD + 16% tax (single)
5-Night Package — 2 Cooking Days
$1,799 USD + 16% tax per person (double)
$2,299 USD + 16% tax (single)
5% discount when paid in full at booking, or when 50% is paid at booking and the remaining balance is paid on the first day of the full month prior to arrival. IVA sales tax is 16%.
Book Now!
Tepoztlan, the original “Pueblo Magico” (magic village) and one of Mexico’s most unique destinations is located about 5280 ft. above sea level and roughly 1 hour 15 minutes south of Mexico City making transportation easy (we pick you up in the Mexico City airport and bring you back). Because of its incredible “eternal spring” climate, Tepoztlan is a year-round destination where our award-winning packages take place.
Due to its year-round average daily temperature of 83 F/28 C, Tepoztlan has become an off-the-beaten-path destination for those who want a wonderful climate with a picturesque, artistic, authentic, and traditional Mexican backdrop. Tepoztlan’s temperate climate with prevailing sunshine, its wonderful adobe facades, incredible local festivals, and ancient cobblestone streets attract Mexicans and foreign tourists from all over the world who seek a traditional, small-town environment.
Tepoztlan is one of the most unique, authentic, and safest places you can visit and has one of the lowest crime rates in the American hemisphere. You will get this understanding in the first 15 minutes after setting foot in the village. It is a place that time seems to have forgotten with time-honored culinary traditions, wonderful local produce, and a very enjoyable pace of life focused on family and friends.
Tepoztlan is made up of artists, stubborn townspeople, and subsistence farmers who vigilantly guard their traditions from change, which makes it an ideal destination for the “foodie” and the traveler seeks to experience a rich culture. “Tepoztecos,” as they are known here, appreciate the foreign tourist because you appreciate their culture. You can walk anywhere day or night and people will say “hello” to you, be cordial, but not overburdening.
This Magic Village with its mystical vibe is known as the “Sedona of Mexico” and consists of a very small, tight-knit community where people are very content with their lifestyle — a full social calendar that consists of constant cultural events, celebrations, and festivals during both the week and weekend. Tepoztlan is a piece of art without comparison – exquisite but not commercial. In Tepoztlan, you will hear the enveloping sounds of the community, the church bells, the rooster crowing, the occasional firecracker and the music wafting through the valley. So, enjoy your stay and when you go home, please tell everyone about your experience in the “hidden culinary jewel of Mexico.”
Mexico Cooks: A Small-Town Culinary Vacation
January 31 – Feb 7, 2026
7-Night True Foodie Package (Best Deal!) (SUN-SUN) | 5-Night Starter Package (SUN-FRI) |
7 | 5 |
4 HANDS-ON COOKING SESSIONS IN THE FANTASTIC OPEN AIR KITCHEN WITH TRIPS TO THE DAILY MARKET, FARMER'S MARKET, AND TORTILLA MILL | 2 HANDS-ON COOKING SESSIONS IN THE FANTASTIC OPEN AIR KITCHEN WITH TRIPS TO THE DAILY MARKET, FARMER'S MARKET, AND TORTILLA MILL |
BIG BREAKFAST EVERYDAY AND ACCESS TO THE KITCHEN FOR FOOD, DRINKS, SNACKS, WHENEVER YOU LIKE THROUGHOUT YOUR STAY. | BIG BREAKFAST EVERYDAY AND ACCESS TO THE KITCHEN FOR DRINKS, FOOD, SNACKS, WHENEVER YOU LIKE THROUGHOUT YOUR STAY. |
MEX (MEXICO CITY- BENITO JUAREZ) AIRPORT PICKUP & RETURN* (CHECK GROUP SHUTTLE TIMES ON PRACTICAL INFORMATION TAB) | MEX (MEXICO CITY - BENITO JUAREZ) AIRPORT PICKUP & RETURN* (CHECK GROUP SHUTTLE TIMES ON PRACTICAL INFORMATION TAB) |
MARKET WALKING-EATING TOUR AND TRIP TO CORN MILL | MARKET TOUR WALKING-EATING TOUR AND TRIP TO CORN MILL |
LUNCH OF DISHES PREPARED ON ALL COOKING DAYS WITH BEER, WINE, & COCKTAIL SERVICE, SNACKS THROUGHOUT THE COOKING DAY | LUNCH OF DISHES PREPARED ON ALL COOKING DAYS WITH BEER, WINE, & COCKTAIL SERVICE, SNACKS THROUGHOUT THE COOKING DAY |
INCREDIBLE PERSONALIZED BOOK-READY, PDF MANUAL OF ALL OF THE DISHES THAT YOU MADE DURING YOUR STAY (ARRIVES AFTER YOUR STAY SO YOU CAN MAKE ALL OF THE DISHES AT HOME!) | INCREDIBLE PERSONALIZED BOOK-READY, PDF MANUAL OF ALL OF THE DISHES THAT YOU MADE DURING YOUR STAY (ARRIVES AFTER YOUR STAY SO YOU CAN MAKE ALL OF THE DISHES AT HOME!) |
DAY OFF ON SATURDAY TO BUILD YOUR OWN ITINERARY OR RELAX BY THE POOL | DAY OFF ON THURSDAY TO BUILD YOUR OWN ITINERARY OR RELAX BY THE POOL |
HIGH SPEED FIBER-OPTIC WIFI, DAILY MAID SERVICE, AND LAUNDRY SERVICE | HIGH SPEED FIBER-OPTIC FOR WIFI, DAILY MAID SERVICE, AND LAUNDRY SERVICE |
$ 1,999 USD plus tax | $ 1,799 USD plus tax |
PAYMENT OPTIONS: 5% DISCOUNT FOR PAYMENT IN FULL OR HALF NOW AND HALF ON FIRST DAY OF MONTH PRIOR TO ARRIVAL WITHOUT DISCOUNT | PAYMENT OPTIONS: 5% DISCOUNT FOR PAYMENT IN FULL OR HALF NOW AND HALF ON FIRST DAY OF MONTH PRIOR TO ARRIVAL WITHOUT DISCOUNT |
La Villa Bonita No-Change-Fee Guarantee!
We want you to enjoy your vacation at La Villa Bonita and we know that things may come up that preclude you from joining us. While we do not accept cancelations or refund payments, if you need to change your reservation for any reason you can do so once without penalty and subject to availability. You will receive a credit towards the same experience that you can apply to a different date or different experience. If you choose a more expensive experience you will need to pay the difference. Please contact us for further details.
Payment Options and Sales Tax
You can receive an additional 5% discount by paying in full upon making your reservation or you can pay full price paying half to reserve and half due on the first day of the month prior to arrival. The 5% discount is not valid with any other discount, sale or promotion. We will send you an invoice by email that you can pay online. Prices do not include 16% sales tax which will be added to the final price of your package. Tips for the staff are not included.
Welcome to Chef Ana´s mountain home that was specially designed for her culinary program. La Villa Bonita was built in a citrus orchard on a hectare of terraced land and consists of 8 guest rooms all with private baths. Each of the guest rooms has a different design and all are very comfortable. All rooms have a king bed and some rooms have the possibility of 2 twin beds or 1 king and french doors that open up to a common courtyard with incredible views of the surrounding mountains and steps from the open-air kitchen. Chef Ana and her family live on the property as well in their townhouse.
The specially-designed open-air kitchen is complete with a living area, three sinks, lots of cooking and prep space as well as a 360-degree view of the majestic mountains. Above the kitchen sits our 16-person-capacity glass table with an incredible panoramic view of the Tepozteco mountains, the ex-convent, and the town below. La Villa Bonita is located in a very quiet residential area of town away from the downtown hum.
Airport Departure. For departure, we have more flexibility. If you would like to use our shuttle, your departure time should be after 12 noon. You may leave earlier for an additional fee. We have an Uber driver on call who charges $1900 pesos per trip (currently about 105USD).-
Included
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Not Included
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La Villa Bonita offers Chef Ana Garcias’ award-winning culinary and cultural vacation experiences in our specially-designed resort in the foothills of the Tepoztlan valley.
Contact Info
Start your Mexican culinary adventure now! Dates available year-round. Contact us for the most up-to-date availability.
+1 (631) 994-3436 // US
email: [email protected]
